Why Does Congreswoman Marcy Kaptur Draw Lunatic Opponents?

No, I'm not talking about Dennis Kucinich or Graham Veysey who opposed her in the Democratic primary. Both are clearly in full grasp of their senses, even if Dennis does claim to have seen UFOs. I;m talking about the wild-eyed, way-to-the-right-of-the-Tea-Party Republicans who have run against her in her last two races.

Before moving on to the latest unhinged assertions of Not-Joe the Not-a-Plumber, let me refresh your memory about her 2010 opponent Rich Iott.

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2010/10/why-is-this-gop-hous...

Indeed. Why IS this GOP House candidate dressed as a Nazi? Oh, right, it's purely historical interest.

Iott, whose district lies in Northwest Ohio, was involved with a group that calls itself Wiking, whose members are devoted to re-enacting the exploits of an actual Nazi division, the 5th SS Panzer Division Wiking, which fought mainly on the Eastern Front during World War II.

Iott also said that joining this group was a "father-son bonding thing." What — his son didn't like to fish or go to baseball games?

Anyway, there seems to be a fixation on Nazis among Republicans in the 9th congressional district because now, Not-Joe has dipped into that well (which is off-limits to Democrats to even allude to — IOKIYAR*)

This ad is a disgrace on so many levels that if I enumerated everything I can think of, you'd probably be able to add a few more. It equates sane control policies — actually ANY gun control policies — with Nazi-ism. (Some are saying that this is a line the NRA has been pushing for years, which only strengthens my belief that it's no longer a legitimate gun owners group but one with a much more sinister extremist agenda). It links gun control policies with government massacres as if a gun in every household would be a match for army tanks and guns.

It suggests that Jews (and other groups targeted by totalitarian governments) were weak and wimpy and in some way complicit in their own fate under Hitler. It implies that the real evil is not policies of organized hatred and mass murder, but not allowing a vigilant populace to run around shooting at random. Guess what, Not-Joe? Germans would have had guns too, they outnumbered Jews, and Hitler's hate speech would have virtually guaranteed that armed German citizens descended on Jews in the middle of the night and slaughtered them — before they could reach for their guns. You know — sort of how ranting of righties in this country about abortion has led to the assassination of doctors and other clinic personnel.

Now, Not-Joe is not going to be elected. Oh-09 is a Democratic vote sink, designed to corral as many Democratic voters as possible in one district so that more of the surrounding districts can be won by Republicans. (To help change THAT, go here: http://votersfirstohio.com/). But as the official candidate of a major party, Not-Joe is helping to legitimize some of the creepiest fringe beliefs out there.